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The Attack and its Immediate Impact

Oktoberfest is amongst the most popular outdoor festivals in the entire world. Held during the first week of October, it is a 16-day event celebrating “beer” in Munich, Germany. Over six million people attend the event yearly, many visiting from other European countries or other nations abroad. The prospect of a terrorist attack on this particular venue, given its importance to German culture and immense size in terms of attendance, would seem potentially catastrophic. On September 26, 1980, this potentially catastrophic possibility became a reality. At 10:19 p.m., a bomb exploded at the main entrance to Oktoberfest, killing 13 people instantly and causing approximately 225 “non-fatal casualties.” Amongst the individuals killed were one Briton, one Swiss, and three German children, aged 6, 8, and 10; the remaining victims were West-German adults. Five members of the United States Air Force were also killed in the attack.

The bomb had been planted in a litterbin at about waist level, allowing it to wreak significant havoc upon detonation. Approximately 50 of the 225 “non fatal” casualties experienced serious, life threatening injuries with the potential to impact the afflicted individuals for the rest of their lives. The area affected by the bombing was the size of a soccer field, which measures at 100 yards long (the same size as a football field) and 60 yards wide. Such demonstrates the devastating impact of this bomb and underscores why it was able to impact a large number of people. Furthermore, analysis of the bomb provides insight into why it was able to be particularly devastating. Reconstruction from the sight of the bombing indicates that it was created from a British mortar projectile, manufactured in the Post World War II but pre-Cold War era in 1954. This particular projectile was modified to ensure an intense degree of fragmentation, which would assist in causing as many fatalities (and severe injuries) as quickly as possible

Emergency Response to the Attack

Upon detonation of the bomb, the incident was immediately reported to the Munich Emergency Control Center. The Munich Emergency Control Center had proved extremely effective in the past as the primary venue for coordinating responses to unexpected disasters throughout Germany, and in this case, it was effective in saving lives. The Control Center put into place a contingency plan specifically designed for disasters involving over 35 injured individuals (given the 225 non-fatal casualties, the Oktoberfest bombing certainly qualified for this particular contingency plan). This particular plan allowed for the immediate dispatch of five ambulances staffed with fully trained emergency physicians, in addition to the dispatch of all other available ambulances and the swift alerting of all hospitals that could potentially receive an influx of emergency room patients due to the bombing.

Gundolf Kohler

The primary suspect (to this day) in the bombing is 21-year-old Gundolf Kohler, then a university student with ties to right-wing extremist groups. Kohler was said to be extremely bright and knowledgeable about the technicalities related to the type of pipe-bomb explosive that he detonated. The investigation, however, was severely hindered by the fact that Kohler himself was killed in the bombing. Thus, there often exists a discrepancy in the number of individuals who are said to have been fatalities in the attack, with those including Kohler reporting “13” and those omitting him reporting “12.” It is believed that Kohler simply was unable to escape the sight of the bombing at the time of detonation, and there is no evidence that indicates in exploding the bomb he had attempted to also commit suicide. Former fellow students described Kohler as an introvert with few close fiends. As a teenager, he was known to have collected handguns and other forms of ammunition, at one point causing an accidental explosion that resulted in significant facial injuries. His family strongly disputed the notion of his alleged connection to right-winged German extremist groups, alleging that radical statements made throughout his teenage years were simply verbal conjecture. Furthermore, his family noted that he had grown less politically-inclined as he grew older, in the last state elections voting for the German Green Party and not right-winged political organizations.

The Investigation and Potential Ties to Extremism

The most significant questions about the bombing, to this day, have emerged as a consequence of Kohler’s ties to the aforementioned right-wing extremist groups. While there presently exists little doubt that Kohler was directly responsible for the bombing, there does exist significant doubt about the prospect that he acted alone; evidence suggests he may have been carrying out the demands of these politically motivated groups. Kohler was previously a member of the neo-Nazi paramilitary group referred to as Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann. A group of independent journalists and researchers, in investigating the attack independently of the German government, linked the Oktoberfest attack to a series of right-wing terrorist attacks that had occurred over the preceding months, including a train station bombing in Bologna, Italy, just several weeks before.

In accordance with the German government's suspicion that Kohler was affiliated with right-wing extremist groups, six members of the Hoffman group, including its leader, Karl-Heinz Hoffman , were arrested in connection with the attack on September 29, 1980. Four of the six suspects had attempted to flee across the Austrian border to Yugoslavia; German authorities successfully preempted their escapes Almost immediately, however, a judge found that the evidence connecting these individuals to the Oktoberfest bombing was inconclusive, and they were subsequently released from police custody.

In attempting to ascertain the connection between Kohler and right wing extremist groups, the bombing’s key eyewitness, Frank Lauterjung, would prove extremely crucial to the investigation. Lauterjung survived the explosion despite being only several meters away from its detonating location, citing a “bad internal feeling” that caused him to throw himself to the ground in a bracing position. Lauterjung was interrogated at least five times over the course of the next year as investigators sought as much input from him as virtually possible. Unfortunately, however, he died of heart failure two years later, with the investigation still very much ongoing. The most crucial piece of evidence that Lauterjung revealed (and one that, according to third parties, was not appropriately “followed up” on by the Munich investigators), was that he had observed Kohler involved in an intense discussion with several men in green jackets, almost at the direct site of detonation. These two men were never found; neither was a victim of the attack (either killed or injured), and neither ever came forward as a witness. They may be the best two individuals armed to shed light on the true realities of the bombing, yet to this day, their identities remain a mystery. The true validity of Lauterjung's given testimonies, however, remains in doubt, and investigators often questioned his credibility during the investigation. He himself had been previously tied to German right-winged extremist groups during the 1960's, before being expelled from the organization for making statements contradicting the group's leaders and overall mission. Given these previous ties, investigators deemed it mildly suspicious that this particular individual was in such close proximity to Kohler; this inherent incertitude and doubt about his previous associations certainly impeded the investigation.

Conclusions and Recent Revelations

Despite persistent speculation about the circumstances of Kohler's involvement in the attack, the Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation (responsible for investigating the crime) in May of 1981 deemed Kohler a "confused, sole perpetrator," essentially closing the case and eliminating any chance that potential accomplices would be further investigated or charged. In 2011, over three decades after the attack, the German magazine Spiegel uncovered a total of 46,000 previously unseen records and files related to the investigation. The records revealed that investigators nearly ignored the most incriminating details behind Kohler's associations to right-winged terrorist groups. Authorities were aware, for instance, that Kohler kept pictures of Hitler above his bed frame, and made a habit of collecting memorabilia from the Nazi regime's reign of power. Furthermore, an uncovered interview with a friend of Kohler's revealed that he "supported the extermination of Jews and communists in the Third Reich.

The newly released files contain even further evidence that calls into question the initial conclusion that Kohler acted alone. Several files, for instance, reveal that authorities were fully aware of Gundolf Kohler's connection to Karl-Heinz Hoffman well before the attack, and had even intercepted letters of communication between the two. One particularly incriminating file described a conversation between Kohler and friends a month in advance of the attack, in which Kohler implied that Hoffman encouraged him to pursue attacking a target of great significance in order to inflict as many casualties as possible. While this new evidence suggests strongly that Kohler did not act alone in the Oktoberfest bombing, he officially remains classified as the "sole perpetrator" in the attack.

Similar Instances of Terrorism in Germany

The above timeline provides insight into the context in which the 1980 Oktoberfest bombing occurred in Germany. It provides dates and brief descriptions of the most significant terrorist attacks occurring (or connected to) Germany in this period, and demonstrates that the Oktoberfest Bombing occurred during decades in which terrorism was a significant concern in this divided nation.

See Also

Gundolf Kohler

Right-wing terrorism

Munich Massacre

Terrorism in Germany